Elopura Marathon Sandakan 2026

Elopura Marathon Sandakan 2026 is the fourth edition of Sandakan’s home-grown road marathon, first launched in 2023. The race takes its name from “Elopura”, the historic name for Sandakan, and is designed as both a competitive road event and a destination race for runners visiting Sabah’s east coast. The current official programme is also part of the Sabah Marathon Series 2026, alongside the Alliance Bank Borneo International Marathon and Tawau Marathon, with a separate series award for runners who complete all three full marathons within their cut-off times.

All races start and finish at Sandakan Sports Complex. The organiser released the 2026 route maps in September and describes the course as running through Sandakan town and its surrounding areas. The current organiser rules list a 12:30am start for the full marathon, 2:00am for the half marathon and 5:30am for the 10K. Cut-off times are seven hours, four hours and two hours respectively, making the longest races early-morning events intended to finish before the hottest part of the day.

The minimum age is 18 for the full marathon, 16 for the half marathon and 13 for the 10K. Open and Veteran categories are offered for men and women, with Veteran eligibility beginning at age 41. Timing bibs are mandatory and bib swapping is prohibited. Runners using wheelchairs, blades or other assistive devices are allowed to participate, although they are not eligible for prizes under the published rules.

Registration closed at 11:59pm MYT on 16 September 2026. Demand was already strong shortly before the deadline, with the organiser reporting the full marathon/Sabah Marathon Series allocation at 93% capacity and both the half marathon and 10K at 70% capacity on 7 September. An optional medal-engraving service is available on race day until 9:30am. The event is listed in the AIMS member-race directory for 22 November 2026.